Attorney General Mark Barnett Working with People Victimized By Sioux Falls Lawyer

(Pierre) – Attorney General Mark Barnett said today that he is issuing a “Good Samaritan” award to several South Dakota Companies.  These companies are being recognized for their acts of kindness to victims of former Sioux Falls attorney Steve Palmer.

Palmer is now serving a ten-year sentence for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients.  The money Palmer took was supposed to be used to pay his clients bills at hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, etc.  Now those creditors are pursuing some of Palmer’s victims to collect money owed to them for services provided.  Barnett has asked these companies to drop their claims for reimbursement so that Palmer’s victims will be able to start rebuilding their lives.

Barnett said, “I am tremendously heartened by the generosity of these good corporate citizens.  They could certainly pursue Palmer’s victims to pay off these bills.  But here we are a week before Christmas, and these companies are giving a great gift.  They have agreed to write off more than a quarter million dollars owed by the victims.  My hat is off to these companies, and we are continuing to work with other companies to see if they will also help the victims.”

Companies and agencies that have agreed to Barnett’s request are: Humana Insurance; Waste Connections; Three Rivers; Lemars Mutual; Orthopedic Institute; Medical X-Ray; Orthofix; Prairie Lakes Hospital; North East Orthopedic; Prudential Insurance; Van Denmark Orthopedic; Unitrin Property and Casualty;  and Medicaid.

A State Bar Association review of Palmer’s records identified 32 victims, who had approximately $515,000 stolen from them by Palmer.  

-30-